IN MEMORY – COLIN ‘BONE’ CUMBERBATCH

The Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission (ABRSC) mourns the death of its founding member Colin Cumberbatch – Jah Bone, Ras B, Boney Wonder – or simply ‘Bone’.

 This shock follows three years after the loss of its other Rastafari member, King Franki. The Commission exchanges organizational condolences with the Rastafari Theocracy of Ras Freeman and expresses heartfelt sympathy to his bereaved family – his surviving sisters June and Debbie – and his children and grandchildren.

Colin’s activism in the politics of liberation for African peoples is at least six decades old.  His early years in Washington DC spent around the campus of Howard University and the Federal City College – exposed him to Black Power political thought, cultural pride and activism – those Pan Africanist ideas that forever influenced his approach to life – those that shaped his engagement with a world that maintains its determination to keep African peoples in the back of the bus. He eventually folded many of his ideas in the acceptance and practice of the Rastafarian faith.

There are few among us as culturally grounded as Colin was.  He was a champion cyclist before he left his beloved Guyana for relocation here in Antigua – where he became an outstanding right winger with the Jets football team, a graceful swimmer and spearfish diver and an accomplished domino and bridge player.

 His knowledge of sports was astounding – international soccer, American football, basketball and of course, cricket where he found his niche as one of the foremost photojournalists covering the West Indies cricket team during its heyday.

Interestingly he did not play much cricket himself but he was a regular member of the Son-uva-Beach Fort James posse. His off-spin bowling – with a hint or hope of turn – brought joy to many batsmen. The less said about his batting and fielding, the better.

Bone knew the world.  He has seen most of it – from the crowded Mumbai in India, its castles to its polluted Yamuna river – to the vineyards of Durban, South Africa and the craft markets of Zimbabwe – to the jazz and soul concert halls, block and basement parties and record and book stores of the USA – to the tea-serving reception rooms of the Lords cricket ground in the United Kingdom – and to the Asian capitals of Pakistan and Sri Lanka.  

In every nook and cranny of our Caribbean nations – he trod – with lasting memories of the mas’ camps and steel band yards and calypso tents and competitions in Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua and Barbuda, to the Rastafari groundings and temples of Jamaica and Guyana and here at home, to the beach picnics and river cookouts in the smaller islands – to every cricket ground this region boasts.

He leaves us with an amazing record.  His photography always edged deeper than the simple capture of images – which he did amazingly well. But through his camera lens he also sought and recorded the vicissitudes of life – joy and accomplishment, sometime pain and failure – always giving dignity to his subjects.  

His library contains rare books by Black authors – his collection of music that of the most eclectic – calypso, Soca, reggae and its precursors and offshoots, steel band, jazz, soul/rhythm and blues, and various continental African genres.

He did not only collect – he knew the forms, the main proponents, the history of their development, their importance to African and African descendants’ persons. He collected art and shared with ABRSC on many occasions for exhibition, his vast collection of African sculptures and other artifacts.

But Colin’s contrarian thinking – his refusal to accept the world as it is and the socio-cultural and economic compliance it demanded – thrust him into memorable debates/arguments with many of his best friends – those in Washington DC – and here with colleagues Anthony Mamba Liverpool, Dorbrene O’Marde and the deceased King Franki and Clarvis Joseph – among others.

Yes, he was contrarian to the core. He was ever ready for a debate and he never accepted defeat – with anyone who did not agree that Sir Vivi was the greatest batsman the world has known or will know, that Andy Roberts was by far a better bowler that Glenn McGrath, that Nancy Wilson was a better singer than Dionne Warwick, that Stalin must be rated among the best calypsonians, that there is no better steelband than Desperadoes – and before his Rasta days – that Cavalier was preferable to White Label.  

Bone had both a phenomenal memory and an amazing comfort with himself, maintaining his views even in the teeth of challenging contemporary and statistical evidence.

His contributions to the work of the Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission and the regional Caribbean Pan African Network – headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago are legendary.

 He is remembered in both organizations for his engaging reasoning – a unique mix of academic and grassroot thinking – and his consistent demand for racial justice and African self-determination. He leaves us knowing that there is still much work to be done for the call ‘Reparations Now’ to be realized.

Dorbrene E. O’Marde

Chairperson, ABRSC / February 16th 2025